This document analyzes BlackBerry's core competencies, goals, and marketing strategy. It identifies BlackBerry's strengths in enterprise services and secure data and recommends focusing on retaining current business customers and stealing share from competitors through better business apps and solutions. The document proposes segmentation by ease of use and business solutions and positioning BlackBerry as satisfying business needs with greater efficiency and reliability over other brands that have fallen behind.

1. BIG PICTURE PROJECT- BLACKBERRY
ANALYSIS
ENGR599- Class 6
November 28, 2011
Siyuan Cao, Jordan Handler, and Haowei Lu

2. CORE COMPETENCE
Core Competence Strategic Assets Benefits
• Enterprise • Applications for business • Covers
and industrial solutions
services employees
• BB OS7
• Quick and • BB Enterprise Server comprehensive
secure data • BBM business needs
service • Brand name
• Research in Motion
• Software developer
• Unique design
Short goal: convince more users to utilize BB’s business solutions

3. GOALS, INNOVATION, AND
IMPLEMENTATION
• Although BlackBerry is not the current market leader in
smartphones, its enterprise services outperform the
competition
• BB should shift its focus towards business solutions
• Provide better APIs for developers to create good
business apps
• Encourage & build good developer environment for
business apps for BB
• Maintain current customers before focusing on new ones
• Create a quick and functional platform for each hardware
model
• Don’t place products on the market prematurely
(Playbook)

4. FUNDAMENTAL ENTITY
BlackBerry (hybrid brand)
Enterprise software and digital devices
Research in Motion Smartphone
App Bold Torch
Development (entertainment/
Enterprise (performance) large screen)
Server
Tablet
Tech Playbook Curve
Support (low price)
Connects with Low price
BB apps (start at
$199)

5. MARKETING OBJECTIVE

6. SOURCE OF VOLUME
• Category definition- Smartphones for businesses
• Competitors- Other smartphone brands
• Apple, HTC, Samsung
Marketing SOV/Competitors Target Bodies (in US)*
Objective
Acquisition Stimulate Demand Non-smartphone 218M (1)
users, businesses
without mobile
enterprise solutions
Acquisition Steal Share from Smartphone users 74.8M (2)
Apple, HTC of other brands
Retention Stimulate Demand Current BB users 0.74M (3)
Retention Steal Share from Past BB users who 0.52M
Apple, HTC have switched to
competition

7. STRATEGIC FOCUS
• BB should place a strong focus on the
retention/steal share quadrant
• BB must bring its retention rate up and ensure
customer satisfaction before focusing on
acquisition
• Keeps users from moving to competitors
• More efficient investment
• Focus on inheritance from past successful models
• Future focus on acquisition/steal share
• BB has unique specialty

8. SEGMENTATION BY VARIABLE

9. TARGET AUDIENCE DESCRIPTION
Category Definition:
Business Smartphones & Solutions The customer is a middle to
high class working middle-
Customer Definition: aged adult with business
An employee who has received needs and scarce time. This
the phone for business use person needs comprehensive
Marketing Objective: business solutions that are
Acquisition? Retention?
easy to utilize and are reliable.
Retention
Source of Volume:
Stimulate? Earn Share? Yes
Segmentation Variables:
(check primary)
MV: Ease of Use DV: Business
Solutions

10. POSITIONING
BB has fallen BB can satisfy
behind in the business needs
smartphone market. BB has a strong advantage in
with greater
Other companies business solutions and functional
provide superior hardware. efficiency and
products. reliability.
BB Enterprise Server
BBM
Has switched to a Reliable Technical Support I will switch back
competitors product. Ergonomic Hardware to BB.

11. QUESTIONS?
References
1. CTIA- The Wireless Association for 2010, Cell Phone Subscribers in
US
2. http://www.inman.com/news/2011/08/30/number-smartphone-
users-jumps-10
3. http://www.intomobile.com/2011/11/01/blackberry-us-
smartphone-market-share-down-9-htc-beats-out-samsung-and-
apple/